This Government led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael has abandoned hundreds of thousands of households who rely on home heating oil in the middle of an energy crisis. It has turned its back on the very people who are being hit hardest - families who have seen the cost of heating almost double in a matter of weeks. The Minister should make no mistake about it, there is real anger out there. People who are already stretched to the limit simply do not know how they will afford their next fill of oil. The Government's message to them, whether it admits it or not, is that they are on their own. Let us strip it back. A 2 cent cut in the middle of an emergency is not help. It is not relief. It is an insult. To add insult to injury, in a matter of weeks the Government will claw it back through another carbon tax hike. It gives with one hand and takes with the other. Let us think about how that looks for families out there sitting in cold homes tonight. At a time other countries are scrambling to bring down energy prices, the Government is preparing to increase taxes on home heating oil, gas and even on a bag of coal. It is staggering and it is completely out of touch. Last night was a cold night. It was cold in homes right across the State. What people were waiting for was Government action. What they got was a Government that abandoned them. It voted down proposals we tabled to remove excise duty completely from home heating oil and to cut the excise on diesel by the maximum amount with the same for petrol. As the Government did that, a grandmother reached out to me devastated. She said: Pearse, I'm a granny with a disabled son at home. I have taken on an extra job onto my full-time job just to support myself and my son. Even with the second job, I'm emailing you tonight with a blanket wrapped round me because I have no heating oil. I don't care about me. It's my son whom it is affecting more due to me only being at home one day a week. On that day, I have to do my shopping, clean my house, do the laundry, as I have no other time to do it. I'm sore. I'm exhausted. I have no quality of life. That is what the Government's decisions mean in real life. That is the human costs of its inaction. She is not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of families just like hers doing the right thing, working hard, cutting back and still being pushed to the brink. What people need is real action, and I am going to continue to fight for them. I am going to continue to have their backs. They cannot put up with more delays from this Government because people need a complete removal of excise duty from home heating oil, the maximum cuts in diesel and the same for petrol. They need the Government to abandon its mad idea and reckless plan to jack up prices by increasing carbon taxes in the middle of this crisis. Here is the truth. There is nothing stopping the Government from doing it - nothing at all. Right now, families are sitting in cold homes under real pressure and being left behind. That is on the Minister.

Sentiment score: -0.16